In brief: Pedestrian hit after exiting bus early
A Spokane man was hospitalized after being hit by a car Friday evening on Third Avenue.
The man, whom police did not identify, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the 6:55 p.m. incident. Police say the street where he was hit was “gridlocked” due to three separate collisions in the area.
The man, who was riding a shuttle bus, grew impatient when traffic came to a stop, and demanded the driver let him off. Despite the driver’s request he stay on board until they reached the corner less than a block away, the man got off the bus.
He then crossed in front of the bus, which was in the right lane, and was struck in the left lane and pinned under a car.
The man suffered lacerations on his head and hip. No citations were issued.
Hate crime against clerks alleged
A Spokane man was arrested on a hate-crime charge late Thursday for allegedly threatening two 7-Eleven clerks with a weapon while yelling racial slurs.
Anthony C. Brockie, 37, had a 12-inch straight razor blade in his pants pocket when a police officer approached him at the store at 323 W. Indiana Ave. about 11:22 p.m. after hearing reports of an assault, according to an affidavit.
A store clerk told police she refused to sell a 40-ounce bottle of Olde English to Brockie because he was intoxicated, but Brockie loitered in the parking lot and became combative with two clerks.
Another clerk told police that Brockie pulled the blade out, cursed and referenced his Middle Eastern heritage. A third clerk said Brockie referenced his race and asked if he wanted to die while waving the blade.
Spokane police say they heard Brockie say “those bastard Arabians beat me up,” according to the affidavit.
Brockie was booked into the Spokane County Jail on second-degree assault and malicious harassment charges.
Audit reaffirms Bigelow Gulch errors
A new state audit confirms that Spokane County failed to follow federal rules when it acquired property for a $66 million project to widen Bigelow Gulch Road.
Washington State Department of Transportation officials identified the violations this spring. The county was indefinitely suspended from real estate work on federally funded projects, prompting county officials to lay off their six-person right-of-way staff in April.
According to state auditors, the county may have to repay $350,000 to $1.5 million to the state Department of Transportation, which administers federal highway spending.
A county response included in the audit says the Federal Highway Administration is “taking the lead” on an agreement to resolve the issue with a “specific corrective action plan.”
Town rejects red light cameras
ROSEBURG, Ore. – A southern Oregon town decided at the 11th hour to reject red light cameras over fears that the cameras cause rear-end crashes and serve only as moneymakers for the city.
The Roseburg City Council voted 4-2 against installing the cameras at a busy intersection, the Roseburg News-Review reported. The city signed a contract with a red light camera manufacturer in 2008, and the cameras were set to be installed in late October.
The city would have started distributing tickets in January, with a maximum fine of $260.
Would-be baby seller to be released
VANCOUVER, Wash. – A woman who tried to sell her baby boy at a Taco Bell restaurant in southwest Washington will be free from jail soon.
Under an agreement with Clark County prosecutors, 36-year-old Heidi Knowles pleaded guilty on Thursday to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to 77 days in jail by a county judge.
According to court documents, prosecutors say Knowles approached a woman in the restaurant on July 14, handed her 1-year-old boy to a woman and offered to sell him for between $500 and $5,000.
Child Protective Services took the baby and later placed him with a relative. Court hearings on the child’s custody are pending.